1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to heat pumps and air conditioners and, more particularly, to an apparatus for making heat pumps and air conditioning systems more efficient.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, systems for regulating the temperature inside of homes buildings, and automobiles are well known. Typically, systems for heating include systems which utilize natural gas, propane, LP, electric, coal, and fuel oil as the source of energy which is converted to heat by a furnace and forced via ducting into rooms throughout the structure. There are relatively fewer methods whereby structures are cooled because the heat within in the structure must be removed and then vented somewhere else. Air conditioning systems powered chiefly by electricity have been developed whereby the heat within a room is removed via a refrigerant pressurized and pumped through an exchanger such that when warmer room is blown past it absorbs the heat from within the air.
One other popular form of providing heating and cooling functions to homes and other enclosed structures is the use of the heat pump. The heat pump functions like an air conditioner by removing heat from the warmer of either the outside or inside environment. Thus during winter months, heat present on the exterior of a structure is removed and distributed inside the structure. Likewise, during the warm summer months, heat inside the home is removed and redirected outside. In this manner, the home interior is provided with a comfortable temperature and humidity all year long. The heat pump accomplishes this through the use of Freon or other refrigerant undergoing compression and expansion cycles. However, the heat pump system runs at optimum performance under these two situations when the volume and pressure of the Freon (.TM.)is held constant. Temperature differentials during the two seasons prevent this from happening in a sealed system. An obvious work around to this dilemma is to pressurize the system during one season and reduce the pressure in the other by removing some of the refrigerant and storing it in a separate tank. However, this method has two disadvantages. First the services of an HVAC technician would be required twice a year which results in a service call billing. Second, during the time between the change of seasons, heating may be required during one part of the day and cooling during another part. Accordingly, there is a need for a means by Freon (.TM.) or other refrigerant can easily be automatically added or removed from a heat pump system to allow for optimum operating efficiency. The development of the Constant Volume Air Conditioning/Heat Pump Efficiency Improvement Apparatus fulfills this need.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 5,597,354 Janu et al. January 28, 1997 4,959,970 Meckler October 2, 1990 5,819,721 Carr et al. October 13, 1998 5,601,071 Carr et al. February 11, 1997 5,239,833 Fineblum August 31, 1993 4,583,365 John April 22, 1986 4,491,061 Nishizawa et al. January 1, 1985 4,365,619 Holbrook et al. December 28, 1982 4,182,406 Holbrook et al. January 8, 1980 ______________________________________